A panel discussion and mixer exploring how AI tools are reshaping storytelling and production, part of the 2026 Pan African Film Festival Austin series.
AFS Cinema is hosting a panel discussion and mixer on storytelling and AI, Culture Can't Be Automated — Or Can It?, on Sunday, August 2. It's part of the 2026 Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) Austin series, and it brings together filmmakers, writers, tech professionals, and cultural critics to talk about how AI tools are changing the way films and stories get produced, distributed, and credited.
The conversation centers on what this means for Black artists, who have spent decades fighting to tell their own stories on their own terms. The panel frames AI as a new reckoning in the history of Black cinema, raising questions about whose stories are used to train the algorithms and whether these tools offer a new kind of liberation or just a new way of strip-mining culture. It's a broad look at the intersection of technology and authorship, and the discussion is followed by a mixer in the AFS Cinema lobby, so you can keep the conversation going after the panel wraps.
The Pan African Film Festival itself has a long history behind it. It was started in 1992 by Danny Glover, Ja'Net DuBois, and Ayuko Babu as a nonprofit global celebration of Pan-African cultures, and it's grown into the largest Black film and arts festival in the United States. This panel is one of the events in the 2026 Austin series.
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The panel runs from 3 PM to 5 PM on Sunday, August 2, at AFS Cinema, 6406 N IH-35 Suite 3100. Admission is free, but you'll need to register in advance.
